This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1944.
Specific locations 1944 in British music 1944 in Norwegian music
Specific genres 1944 in country music 1944 in jazz
Events January 18 – The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the first time hosts a jazz concert; the performers are Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden. February – The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra loses its concert hall in an Allied air raid. February 19 – The Billboard modifies its "Most Played Juke Box Records" chart to rank records (previously it had ranked songs, listing multiple records for each). The year-end "Top Disks" of 1944 will now be based on performance on the "Best Selling Retail Records" and "Most Played Juke Box Records" charts. July 28 – Sir Henry Wood, aged 75, conducts his last Promenade Concert, evacuated to Bedford. August 19 – Italian singers Lucia Mannucci and Virgilio Savona get married. September 20 – Yehudi Menuhin gives the first British performance of Béla Bartók's Second Violin Concerto in Bedford, in the opening concert of a tour with the B.B.C. Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Autumn – Peggy Guggenheim's The Art of This Century gallery on Manhattan releases a 78 rpm 3-record album containing Paul Bowles' Sonata for Flute and Piano and Two Mexican Dances with a cover by Max Ernst. October 25 – Notoriously bad amateur soprano Florence Foster Jenkins gives her only public recital, in Carnegie Hall, a month before her death. November 11 – AFM strike ends when Columbia, Victor and NBC "throw in the sponge" and agree to terms. December 15 – Glenn Miller is reported missing. The official explanation is that his plane went down somewhere over the English Channel, although many alternate theories have been suggested. Singer Billy Murray retires to Long Island. English contralto Kathleen Ferrier makes the first of her recordings of the aria "What is Life?" (Che farò) from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice which will rival sales by more popular singers over the next few years. Czech Jewish composer Hans Krása's children's opera Brundibár is performed many times in Theresienstadt concentration camp, where on October 17 the composer is killed. Flo Sandon's makes her stage debut, singing in a charity show. Jo Stafford launches her solo career. Frankie Laine cuts his first singles for the Beltone and Atlas labels.
Albums released The Wayfaring Stranger – Burl Ives Girl Crazy – Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney Going My Way – Bing Crosby Boogie Woogie In Blue – Harry Gibson
Top records
On August 1, 1942, a strike by the American Federation of Musicians ended all recording sessions. Record companies kept business going by releasing recordings from their vaults, but by mid-1943, alternate sources were running dry, as the strike continued. Decca was the first company to settle in September 1943, but RCA Victor and Columbia held on until November 11, 1944.Peter A. Soderbergh, "Olde Records Price Guide 1900–1947", Wallace–Homestead Book Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 1980, pp.136–139 It comes as no surprise that fifteen of the top twenty records of 1944 were released by Decca, with two more by Capitol, the second company to settle.
Beginning February 19, 1944, The Billboard modified its "Most Played Juke Box Records" chart to rank records (previously it had ranked songs, listing multiple records for each). The January 6, 1945, issue contained year-end top ten charts for "Best Selling Retail Records", "Most Played Juke Box Records" and "Top 10 Disks for 1944", the latter combining the scores of the former two charts. The chart below was compiled using Billboard's formula, but includes each record's full chart period, with weeks from 1943 and 1945 as needed. Details from "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" (Hillbilly), "Harlem Hit Parade" (HHP) charts and the "American Folk Records" column late 1943-early 1944 were also considered. As always, numerical rankings are approximate. Rank Artist Title Label Recorded Released Chart positions 1 Bing Crosby "Swinging on a Star" Decca 18597 US BB 1944 #1, US #1 for 9 weeks, 28 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales 2 Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters "Don't Fence Me In" Decca 23364 US BB 1944 #2, US #1 for 8 weeks, 21 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales 3 Harry James and His Orchestra (Vocal Dick Haymes) "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)" Columbia 36698 US BB 1944 #3, US #1 for 6 weeks (Juke Box chart), 29 total weeks 4 The Mills Brothers "You Always Hurt The One You Love" Decca 18599 US BB 1944 #4, US #1 for 5 weeks, 32 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #29, Harlem Hit Parade #5 for 3 weeks, 24 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales 5 Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra (vocals Bob Eberle and Helen O'connell) "Besame Mucho" Decca 18574 US BB 1944 #5, US #1 for 7 weeks, 25 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales 6 Dinah Shore "I'll Walk Alone" Victor 20-1586 US BB 1944 #6, US #1 for 4 weeks, 26 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #44, Harlem Hit Parade #10 for 2 weeks, 2 total weeks, CashBox #1, USPop #1 for 5 weeks, 14 total weeks 7 Bing Crosby "I'll Be Seeing You" Decca 18595 US BB 1944 #7, US #1 for 4 weeks, 28 total weeks 8 Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra "My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?)" Decca 18567 US BB 1944 #8, US #1 for 5 weeks, 24 total weeks 9 Red Foley "Smoke on the Water" Decca 6102 US BB 1944 #57, US #7 for 1 week, 11 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1944 #2, MPJBFR #1 for 13 weeks, 27 total weeks 10 Bing Crosby "I Love You" Decca 18595 US BB 1944 #9, US #1 for 5 weeks, 19 total weeks 11 Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots "I'm Making Believe" Decca 23356 US 1944 #10, US #1 for 2 weeks, 18 total weeks, CashBox #4, USPop #1 for 1 week, 24 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #18, Harlem Hit Parade #2 for 1 week, 14 total weeks 12 King Cole Trio "Straighten Up and Fly Right" Capitol 154 US BB 1944 #67, US #9 for 1 week, 12 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #2, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 10 weeks, 24 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1944 #3, MPJBFR #1 for 5 weeks, 16 total weeks 13 Bing Crosby "San Fernando Valley" Decca 18586 US BB 1944 #11, US #1 for 5 weeks (Juke Box chart), 24 total weeks 14 Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" Decca 23356 US BB 1944 #16, US #1 for 2 weeks (Juke Box chart), 19 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #1, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 11 weeks, 21 total weeks, CashBox #14, USPop #9 for 1 week, 19 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales 15 The Andrews Sisters "Shoo-Shoo Baby" Decca 18572 US BB 1944 #12, US #1 for 5 weeks (Juke Box chart), 22 total weeks 16 Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five "G.I. Jive" Decca 8659 US BB 1944 #13, US #1 for 2 weeks (Juke Box chart), 22 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #4, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 6 weeks, 26 total weeks 17 Merry Macs "Mairzy Doats" Decca 18588 US BB 1944 #14, US #1 for 5 weeks (Juke Box chart), 14 total weeks, Decca Records' best-selling release of 1944Popular Music, 1920–1979: A Revised Cumulation, Volume 2, Nat Shapiro & Bruce Pollock;, Gale Research Company, 1985, ; page 190 18 Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes "Long Ago (and Far Away)" Decca 23317 US BB 1944 #15, US #2 for 1 week, 20 total weeks 19 The Pied Pipers "The Trolley Song" Capitol 168 US BB 1944 #17, US #2 for 2 weeks, 15 total weeks 20 Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters "Hot Time in the Town of Berlin" Decca 23350 US BB 1944 #20, US #1 for 6 weeks (Juke Box chart), 15 total weeks
Top race records
Rank Artist Title Label Recorded Released Chart positions 1 Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" Decca 23356 US BB 1944 #16, US #1 for 2 weeks (Juke Box chart), 19 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #1, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 11 weeks, 21 total weeks, CashBox #14, USPop #9 for 1 week, 19 total weeks 2 King Cole Trio "Straighten Up and Fly Right" Capitol 154 US BB 1944 #67, US #9 for 1 week, 12 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #2, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 10 weeks, 24 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1944 #3, USHB #1 for 5 weeks, 16 total weeks 3 Duke Ellington "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" Victor 20-1547 US BB 1944 #73, US #10 for 2 weeks, 23 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #4, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 9 weeks, 18 total weeks 4 Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five "G.I. Jive" Decca 8659 US BB 1944 #13, US #1 for 2 weeks (Juke Box chart), 22 total weeks, US R&B 1944 #4, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 6 weeks, 26 total weeks 5 Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra "Hampton's Boogie Woogie" Decca 18613 US R&B 1944 #5, Harlem Hit Parade #1 for 6 weeks, 23 total weeks
Popular hit records
Published popular music
"Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive" words: Johnny Mercer, music: Harold Arlen "All of a Sudden My Heart Sings" w. (Eng) Harold Rome (Fr) Jean Marie Blanvillain m. Herpin "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" w. Joe Greene m. Stan Kenton & Charles Lawrence "As Long as There's Music" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne. Introduced in the film Step Lively by Frank Sinatra. "Bell Bottom Trousers" w.m. Moe Jaffe "The Boy Next Door" w.m. Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane "Candy" w. Mack David & Joan Whitney m. Alex Kramer "Can't Help Singing" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Jerome Kern "Dance with a Dolly" w.m. Terry Shand, Jimmy Van Eaton & David Kapp "Don't Explain" w. Billie Holiday m. Arthur Herzog Jr. "Don't Fence Me In" w.m. Cole Porter "Dream" w.m. Johnny Mercer "Fine Brown Frame" w.m. Guadalupe Cartiero & J. Mayo Williams "First Class Private Mary Brown" w.m. Frank Loesser "The Flaming Sword of Liberation" m. Glenn Miller "G.I. Jive" w.m. Johnny Mercer "Going My Way" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" w.m. Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane "A Hot Time in the Town Of Berlin" w. John De Vries m. Joe Bushkin "How Blue the Night" w. Harold Adamson m. Jimmy McHugh "How Little We Know" w. Johnny Mercer m. Hoagy Carmichael. Introduced by Lauren Bacall in the film To Have And Have Not. "I Begged Her" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne "I Didn't Know About You" w. Bob Russell m. Duke Ellington "I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)" w.m. Marjorie Goetschius & Edna Osser "I Fall in Love Too Easily" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne "I Love You" w.m. Cole Porter "I'll Walk Alone" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne "I'm Beginning to See the Light" w.m. Duke Ellington, Don George, Johnny Hodges & Harry James "I'm Headin' For California" w.m. Glenn Miller & Artie Malvin "I'm Making Believe" w. Mack Gordon m. James V. Monaco "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" w.m. Allan Roberts & Doris Fisher "It Could Happen to You" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen. Introduced by Dorothy Lamour and Fred MacMurray in the film And the Angels Sing "It's Love, Love, Love" w. Mack David m. Alex Kramer & Joan Whitney "Jealous Heart" w.m. Jenny Lou Carson "Keep a Sunbeam in Your Pocket" w.m. V. Guest & M. Sherwin from the film Bees in Paradise "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma" w.m. Milton Berle, Gene Doyle & Spike Jones "Like Someone in Love" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen. Introduced by Dinah Shore in the film Belle of the Yukon. "A Little on the Lonely Side" w.m. Dick Robertson, Frank Weldon & James Cavanaugh "Long Ago (and Far Away)" w. Ira Gershwin m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Martha Mears dubbing for Rita Hayworth in the film Cover Girl "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" w.m. Don Raye & Gene De Paul "More and More" w. E. Y. Harburg m. Jerome Kern From the Universal film Can't Help Singing "My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time" w. Mann Curtis m. Vic Mizzy "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" w. Phil Silvers m. Jimmy Van Heusen "New York, New York" w. Betty Comden & Adolph Green m. Leonard Bernstein "Now I Know" w. Ted Koehler m. Harold Arlen "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" w. Johnny Mercer m. Harry Warren "One Meat Ball" w. Hy Zaret m. Lou Singer "Please Don't Say No" w. Ralph Freed m. Sammy Fain from the film Thrill of a Romance "Put It There Pal" w. Johnny Burke m. Jimmy Van Heusen "Rum and Coca-Cola" w.m. Morey Amsterdam, Paul Baron & Jeri Sullivan